What will my child gain by being at Gymfinity?

Taken from an originally published work by Dr. Bill Sands that appeared in Technique Magazine 1999 available at this link 
What will my child gain by being in gymnastics?

• Pound for pound gymnasts are the strongest athletes in any Olympic sport. Most are small in stature and their strength to weight ratio is very high. However (says the 6’2” guy) gymnastics is open to people of all shapes and sizes.
• Gymnasts are among the most flexible of all athletes. A strict stretching regiment is key to success in gymnastics. Flexibility not only allows performances to be enhanced but reduces the risk of injuries.
• Gymnasts have excellent static and dynamic balance. Gymnasts develop this sense of balance and it is often goes un-noticed.
• Gymnasts have a very defined Interior Orientation System (IOS: awareness of their own bodies in relation to itself) and Exterior Orientation System (EOS: the body’s relation and awareness to this outside the body). I watched a video years ago of several Olympic level gymnasts going through the same training that astronauts have to do. When weightless the trained astronauts floated into walls and ceilings of the zero-grav module; while the gymnasts pushed off surfaces to complete flips and turns never once clunking into a wall or another person.
• Gymnasts have a good understanding of falling safely with minimal or no injury. In high school I tried to play soccer on the team and realized that my best skill was to be able to return to my feet quickly after being tripped or tackled. Other kids also liked to bounce the ball off my head but that’s another story.
• Gymnastics is reasonably safe. A report done on sport reasons that send children (18 years or under) to emergency rooms shows that gymnastics is ranked 47th. Number one for boys is rock climbing (?) and for girls cheerleading.
• Gymnasts tend to do very well in school. Aside from the many posts that I have done that explain the brain development and the effects of gymnastics it should also be mentioned that discipline and time management are study skills that most non-athletes never learn.
• Gymnasts (along with other athletes in other sports) learn about teamwork, sportsmanship, fair play, dedication, perseverance, goal setting and planning.
• Gymnastics shows children that rewards are not accomplished instantly. Hard work is what leads to objectives and goals being met and sometimes they may take years to achieve.
• Drug abuse including alcohol, while not completely unknown, is very limited. Gymnasts have a tendency to see all that they work for being able to be lost by indulging in drugs or drinking.

Suffice to say, the list could be longer but I think that gymnastics is one of the most beautiful sports in the world as well as being one of the best for children. Wouldn’t you agree?

What is your lesson plan today?

Years ago, some random professional athlete (whose name I don’t rememebr because they are insignificant in my world) said that pro athletes are not role models to children, they’re just athletes. I couldn’t disagree more. In fact, I’ll take it to the next step and tell you that every adult is a role model to children. Every one of us.

My son, last night, said “Dad, when babies are born they don’t know nothing.” First I corrected his grammer then I agreed and told him how children absorb everything they see and experience. I rubbed my hand on our stair railing and pretending to be a baby said “ Smooth, cool, hard, solid, I can grip it, it is brown and woody, I think I’ll call it wood…” I explained how that little experience of grasping a railing is a massive learning experience to a child; but then again; everything is!

So where do they learn things, other than on the staircases of the world? They learn by experiencing and watching us. My sons will see how to be men by watching their dad and their teachers, coaches, friend’s dads, strangers and then trying on those observations to create experiences. Those experiences work positively leading to “I’m going to be like that” or negatively which leads to “I’m not acting like that again.”

I don’t remember who sent me this video first, but it really exemplifies my point. Watch it, but I will warn you, it’s hard to take at points. I will tell you that I am an emotional guy. I’m a big bald tough guy because my job demands that I be so, but inside I am pretty soft.  When I watched this video I got pretty emotional.  I was so saddened by the examples of what our kids see and how so many of us are completely oblivious to what we are teaching them. In fact the clip of the dog in the dog house literally was the cause for me losing sleep. I have enjoyed the unconditional love of dogs my whole life and to see this broke my heart. That’s all I’ll say about that.

But let’s examine what lesson our children are learning when:

• We curse at a fellow driver because they drive like an “idiot”?
• When we get over the correct change at the gas station and we pocket the money?
• When we maybe have a beer too many and talk like a “fool”?
• When we disrespect a teacher, a school or something that a child values?
• When we read a book to our kids, regardless of their age?
• When we cheer for our kids at a meet or game even though they’re losing?

I could go on. Think about it, they will do what we do. They may choose to do something else when they try on our behavior for size and it doesn’t fit; but you can bet they’ll try it on. What are you teaching our children? What do you want them to learn?

Are you memorable?

So often we harp on the dark side of children’s sports. We discuss the psycho-parent, the bratty bully, over-training children, embarrassing performances and more. We tend to remember the bad things but have a hard time recalling good things. I learned at a business conference in a discussion of brain functionality (yeah, I go to some doozie business seminars) that the brain issues the same chemical when “documneting” a memory as it does when it has a negative stimulus. So actually there is a very real chemical reason why we recall negatives more than positives;  our brain remembers them by using the same chemicals to create memories. So many times we remember the stubbed toe, the lost parking spot, the guy who sneezed on your plate at lunch or the rude teller at the bank  and we often misplace remembering the person who asked if we were OK, the woman who let us in line ahead of her or the friendly cashier. It’s in that vein that we remember the murders, and fires on the news and not the rescued kittens. It’s that same way when we  think about kids sports. We remember the crazy parent not the 400 other wonderful parents that we meet at competitions or at the gym. As a parent in our lobby, do you see the one coach who is sitting down (this is an example, our coaches do not sit) and tired looking or do you see the 10 other coaches smiling and lovingly teaching your children? Do you see the crying child frustrated at the beam skill or the child next to her glowing because beam is her favorite event?

Look out from the lobby and notice how much support there is in the gym, notice the other parents noticing too. Can you see what is really going on? Can you see that learning can often be  frustrating but it’s always in a state of progress that we tend to find frustration? That’s a good thing.

Lastly look at yourself. Does your attitude show your children what you want them to see? Do you model what you want people to remember? When other parents are looking for good  impressions of kids sports, do they think of you?

Remember that our brain chemistry is pushing us to remember negative things, you have got to be really really good to be remembered in the mire of negative images and associations. Are you getting remembered?

I resolve to….be S*M*A*R*T

Lose weight, workout more, get my financials in order, call my brothers more, learn a new language, etc. The list is endless and most often it’s open-ended.

Most people who make resolutions do it with a genuine desire for self-improvement, the problem is in the follow through. Often our resolutions are little more than thoughts and so we never really commit to achieving them.  The intention is good, the process is not.  The average “resolver” usually tries to stick to it and then it all fades in about 2 weeks.

IF you are truly trying to make a go of a good resolution, it’s best to think of it as goal setting. Merely calling it a resolution builds in an escape clause and in setting out to accomplish we have given ourselves an out to fail. When we do goal setting with our team kids we have very specific protocol. Try these qualities when setting up your New Years Goals this year.

For clarity we will use an imaginary goal, lets say to lose weight.  I am not a big proponent of “losing weight” I would phrase it as “getting healthy” and having fat reduction as a part of the overall goal. Muscle actually weighs more than fat so it is completely possible to get heavier when getting fit. “Losing weight” is a very ambiguous term. But it is a VERY common goal, so we’ll stick with it for now.

First we have to be Specific. Rather than “lose weight” let’s say we want to eliminate fat. We will state our goal as “I want to reduce my our fat content“.

Next we have to address Measurabilityy. Can my goal be measured?  There are many ways to measure our percentage of body fat, so assuming we have a reliable way. Lets change our goal to say “I want to reduce my percentage of body fat by 90%”. This is a defined goal and I know if I reach 89% I did not make it and if I reach 91%, I more than made it. Now I have a clear goal.

Review the goal and see if it is Achievable.  I work from 7:30AM to 9PM, I eat lunch around 11AM and dinner about at 9:30PM. In between I have cookies and chips from the vending machine. Sounds bad, but this is pretty typical of a business owner/coach. So my overall goal may be a good one, but it may be the culmination of many smaller goals. In fact, setting smaller goals will work much better. So let’s add in some sub-goals. “I want to reduce my percentage of body fat by 90%: I will eat 6 smaller meals everyday, I will bring a fruit snack to substitute the vending machine snacks (also helps with getting finances under control), I will take a brief work break in the afternoon, and go for a walk (sub goals would fit here too), I will have my last meal at 9:00 giving me time to digest before bed.” 

Next we need to review for Realism. Is it reasonable to think that YOU could accomplish this? Is the Olympics a realistic goal for an athlete? Sure, Maybe. No. All depending on who you are. Is it reasonable to lose 90% of your fat? No. Even a trained athlete has more fat than 10% (Women athletes 14-20% and men 6- 13%) and “regular people have even more. So is it realistic to lose that amount? Instead lets reword our goal to “I want to reduce my percentage of body fat by 50%: I will eat 6 smaller meals everyday, I will bring a fruit snack to substitute the vending machine snacks, I will take a brief work break in the afternoon, and go for a walk , I will have my last meal at 9:00 giving me time to digest before bed.” 

Lastly, add the element of a deadline. Give yourself a realistic Timeline to accomplish your goal. It is safe to lose 1-4 pounds per week. so based off of your percentage, base your timeline accordingly. Our final goal then is: I want to reduce my percentage of body fat by 50% by December 31st of 2012: I will eat 6 smaller meals everyday, I will bring a fruit snack to substitute the vending machine snacks (also helps with getting finances under control), I will take a brief work break in the afternoon, and go for a walk (sub goals would fit here too), I will have my last meal at 9:00 giving me time to digest before bed.” 

If you notice the acronym formed by our goal setting plan is S*M*A*R*T. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and with a Timeline. IF I would add one thing, Write it all down, laminate it and carry it around. Seeing your goal re-confirms your commitment to it and you won’t let yourself off the hook.

Try it. Let me know how it goes.

 

Brain Research supports gymnastics as a good choice for kids

One of the current strategies for working with children classified as ADD or Attention Deficit Disorder is to give them more physical activity. The research shows that kids with ADD have smaller frontal lobes of the brain and thus they tend to struggle with focus and lean toward being more impulsive. Many of these children outgrow their behaviors as they continue to grow and their brain develops and matures. We also know that aerobic exercise releases chemicals that help in the development of those frontal lobes.  A short bout of exercise can alter the chemical balance of the brain and can change our sour disposition to more genial and help us to be more focused. We’ve known this for years, hence the invention of the study break, the walk to the water cooler or the advent of corporate fitness centers in office buildings. Now the science backs up what we knew. But let me return to the point: repeatedly applying this concept of exercise to enhance focus can lead to permanently enhancing the efficiency of, not only the frontal lobes, but our bodies as a whole. Our frontal lobes do not fully develop until about age 25. That means up until then we tend naturally to be more impulsive, sometimes irrational, sometimes foggy or unfocused and sometimes inattentive. (Insurance companies knew this before the research by their tracking of data about who has auto accidents and when and why accidents occur. There was a sharp decrease after age 25 (as the frontal lobes mature) and thus they became less of a risk).

Science is also showing that academics are directly affected by sports and physical activity even more than we thought. Going back to the ancient Greek’s philosophy of a sound mind in a sound body; we seem to have always assumed that the 2 go hand in hand. But now by research we know that it is true. A study by the California Department of Education in 2001 compared standardized testing scores of physically active kids and inactive kids. The physical children had far out-performed their inactive counterparts by a large margin. This study was duplicated in Australia and Hong Kong and both with identical results. The verdict was in: being in sports and physical activity not only increased the rate and efficiency of brain development but it improved learning and retention over all.

In another study conducted by Ralph Barrett (Nashville) indicated that repetition and development of specific motor skills such as balancing, catching and activities that require a child to use quick eye-hand coordination skills will integrate sections of the brain and enhance reading skills. We know then that applied gymnastics and physical skills not only create a more efficient physical body but will lead to better comprehension in reading and thus improve grades and retention of information. Again, looking into our collective personal experiences, it confirms a North Carolina study that correlates grade point and graduation rates higher in both measures for the athletes in school than for the non-athletes. Further research in psychology, education and neuroscience all point to the similar conclusions:  Physical activity does enhance academic performance.

I have spoken on many occasions about the benefits of gymnastics for children and though many sports involve coordination, eye-hand skills, balance, strength and flexibility; no sport offers them to the extent that gymnastics does. Gymnastics forms a foundation for other sports and activities to build upon. I cannot tell you how many of my former gymnasts have gone on to excel in soccer, softball, track, diving, or other sports.  And not only that, in the last 30 years I have coached 3 doctors, 2 physical therapists, 2 lawyers, 6 teachers, 2 Physician’s assistants, 2 software engineers, 8 business owners, 2 architects, 3 university professors, a police detective, many accountants, numerous nurses, many lab scientists and 1 engineer whose invention was included on the space shuttle (a zero gravity fire extinguisher). Of course when I had them they were all just gymnasts. And, what’s more, there are more success stories in the making.

Research and personal experience concur that there is a defined connection between physical activity and academic performance. We see it from the improved status of ADD kids getting fit to the performance and graduation rates of school children aand all the way to the high achievements of gymnasts. As a coach and parent, I encourage you to get your kids active on a consistent basis. You will improve their mind, their body and their chances for success.

there aint no Santa Claus

I am sad to admit that I have long lost my holiday spirit. I grew up in a moderately religious household and Christmas was a time to celebrate our christian upbringing; but more so a time to celebrate family. As I grew I learned that the proposed date of Christmas was March 21st (the supposed day that the sun was created) but the church decided to usurp the pagan celebration of the solstice and so placed the holiday on December 25th knowing it had no relation to the birth of Christ. Thanks Roman Council, that took the religion out of it for me.  I also did a little time working in a toy store (3 years) and that took the love of the holidays out of me faster than air from a over-filled balloon. I have never witnessed the potential of horrible behavior from the average person more than when I sold toys during the holidays. I know that my “bah-humbug” attitude makes it hard on my family and friends but it was our collective societal malformations that did this to me and nothing I can see, not even visits from 3 ghosts, could rebuild a passion for the holidays as they are.  I do however, remember the joy I had as a child during the holidays. The longing for gifts that was only a part of a bigger feeling. Enjoying holiday cartoons with my family, making gifts and cards, singing Christmas songs with my mom, cocoa and playing outside are all crystal clear memories even though I personally may be jaded now.

I remember too, the year I discovered that Santa wasn’t real. I had had suspicions for a while but confirmed them with my mom. “There ain’t no Santa Claus” I remember saying half hoping that she would tell me there really was and that I was just over-thinking. But she confessed, and even though I felt that I was so smart for figuring it out, I also felt a little disappointed. I remember her telling me that little kids love the magic of believing  Santa is real. I understood and I knew that from then on I was on the “grown-up” side of the scheme and thus needed to play along… for the children.

I still feel that way today; that it’s for the children. Strip away the parts you don’t agree with, or the dogma that confounds you and what you still have is the magic that fuels a child’s experience of the holiday. At our house we have tried to downplay the gift acquisition factor and instead focus on the giving part. Charity over capitalism, I guess, but even beyond that there is still  the inexplicable magic.

How could anyone believe that a fat old man could deliver toys to every child in the world in one night? Magic, that’s how. Why not? My kids are astounded by magicians on TV who levitate or pass ketchup bottle through tables, why couldn’t they believe in the magic of Santa?  I love that my 7-year-old believes that the Elf on the Shelf reports back to the north pole, of course my 3-year-old is completely convinced but you would expect that.  Even though I feel like I am constantly giving soapbox lectures every time one of them boisterously tells me what they want for Christmas but I will not relinquish my goal of getting them to see past the marketing travesty that American Christmas has become. I hope for them to feel the magic of the day, the warmth inside that you get from being so cold, or the light that shines on you when you generously give of yourself. There is a day coming, I know, when they will get a glimpse of man behind the curtain and that inexplicable feeling will be explained and the magic may be lost. I know they will be disappointed but I will urge them to still carry in their hearts the wonderful feeling at this time of year. “Despite the disheartening behavior of some of those around you”, I will tell them,  ”remember how special you felt when you believed in magic”. I will ask them to share that feeling and maybe even pretend a little that everyone else still believes in it too.

To all of you who have taken the time to read my posts this year keep your heart open to the magic, spiritual or otherwise, that comes with this season. I wish you the happiest of happy holidays.

How can you get them to eat healthy?

How can we get our kids to eat healthier? That is a great question; first lets look at what is against us and what we need to do to combat it.

Kids are bombarded by media messages telling them to eat terrible processed food-like products that have no nutritional value. They see more ads for Coke, Snickers and McDonald’s than they ever will for locally grown, fresh, or healthy food.  When is the last time you saw an ad for a vegetable? Truth is, like politics, the guys who have the worst to offer have the most money to spend on telling you why you need it. Straight out, they’re lying. They’re lying to make money. Sadly, we all fall for it. Like subliminal messages they creep in when you are least prepared to fight them off. I will confess to buying an item because I was watching TV the night before and they told me I was missing out on real cookie flavor unless I got the “new” super fudgy blah blah blah. There I was in the check out; “Dang, they got me”.

Just as we  have our own views swayed into action, kids will see what we do and choose and emulate us. What we have working against us is that we make terrible choices too. If we want our children to make better choices we need to too. But what our problem is, is that maybe we haven’t bought in to healthy eating ourselves. We should.

We know this much: All people, including children, manufacture free radicals as a by-product of metabolism. These free radicals cause destruction and aging of our cells and our bodies. The more active a person is the more free radicals they will produce. We know that, on average, children are more active than we adults are (If your child is not as active as you, stop reading this post and call me ASAP at 608-848-FLIP). This is a fact. The only way to reduce these risks is to consume food with good anti-oxidants. The anti-oxidants in fruit and veggies neutralize those free radicals. Once more; The fiber in raw plant food (raw is always better than cooked) can lower your cholesterol, scrub clean the intestinal walls, and  reduce the risk of diabetes by slowing carbohydrate absorption. We know that  food with anti-oxidants can lower the risk of many types of cancer. Convinced yet? How about the case of Phytochemicals? Phytochemicals that can be found in raw fruits and veggies and  reduce the risk of many types of other diseases. Did you know there are over 1000 phytochemicals in a single tomato?  Mmm. There are also minerals in grown food, like calcium, sodium, magnesium, and potassium that are all vital to proper body function, making us efficient and whats better; they’re making us less prone to sickness  and making us feel good (as opposed to tired, lazy, stupid, inefficient, sick, and depressed).

Well if what’s against us is the media, our habit and a  lack of facts….that’s easy. 1. Stop buying what they pitch. That will save on the family budget too. Every once and awhile a treat is fine; even the most healthy among us is allowed the occasional cookie. Just realize that you are not missing out on the real cookie flavor of super fudgy blah blahs. 2. Change your habits, an apple is better than a Snickers any day, and the remnants of a consumed apple are biodegradable, not so of our friend the Snickers (my inner-tree hugger is showing). And 3. Get facts. They come best from someone who is not selling something. So be wise in your web information diet queries.

Here are some great strategies for getting your kids (and you) to eat more fruits and veggies.

• Keep fruit in the house. Don’t buy a ton of it because when it rots it negatively reinforces your feelings toward not spending money on a snack that will go to waste. Have a little bit of fruit or vegetable cut up and ready to be chosen. Make it’s access easier.
• When you crave a sweet snack, grab fruit. My wife changed my mind as I grabbed my car keys and told her I was going to the store to grab something sweet. She tossed me an apple without a word. Busted. How can I argue with that?
• Let your kids see you eating good food as a snack selection. In the above scene my wife didn’t have to toss my boys any apples. When they saw what dad was having (and realized there was no hope of him bringing chocolate home any time soon) they got their own apples.
• Send fruit or vegetables to school in lunches. Again, accessibility is essential.
• At dinner time, serve a salad as a separate course as opposed to a part of the main meal, just like in a restaurant. Kids get the salad when they are most hungry and it will fill them with good nutrition right away: not to say the rest of your meal is not nutritious, just saying get them good fuel when the tank is low.
• Be satisfied if they eat only a portion of the salad course, it’s better than nothing at all. Victory comes in small doses, it’s OK.
• Keep trying new  fruits and veggies, don’t take “yuck” for an answer. Try a different presentation or a different recipe and go again. Kids may turn up their noses but get them to keep trying something. There is research that shows that kids need exposure to foods sometimes as much as 14 times before they admit to liking it. That number does not apply to Liver.
• Use recipes that blend healthy food in with other foods until kids realize that it won;t kill them. I love Jessica Seinfeld’s book about deceptive recipes for kids. In fact we have made everything in the book and my kids often ask for repeats. They also noticed that it didn’t taste as good when I re-made some dishes without the “secret” ingredients.

What we know is that raw fruit and veggies are the building blocks for healthy bodies. That’s a fact. It’s also a fact that raw fruit and veggies make us healthier. It might take some work, but isn’t feeling better and living healthier worth a little effort?

The problem with Traditionitis

Ok. Just venting.

I am appalled at somethings I see things in the children’s activity industry and I wonder what the heck is going on.

Case in point: I see an advertisement for a local children’s activity franchise that shows a child doing a back bend, or what in gymnastics or yoga is known as a bridge and I get upset. Why?

Our industry is plagued by “Traditionitis” or a thought process that tells us that we should always do what we have always done. The problem with such thinking is that doing what we have always done, gets us what we have always got. Umm, even my head is spinning from that paragraph. Let me explain.

My coaches, Gary, John, Mickey, Greg and even Chuck have bad backs. Their coaches had bad backs. I would venture to say that their coaches coaches had bad backs too. As a gymnast we were made to do endless sets of bridges to stretch our shoulders. However if you ask any kid doing bridges what it’s stretching (if they know it’s supposed to be a stretch) and they will say ‘their back’.  Gymnasts by the nature of strength development, and children just in general, have limited flexibility in their shoulders and when doing a bridge the spine is flexed to compress the vertebrae together causing pain, disc pinching and the potential for long-term instability. I have a bad back. That’s 3 generations of gymnasts that have been negatively affected by “doing what we have always done.” I decided 20 years ago that I would no longer have my gymnasts do bridges with their feet on the floor. By elevating the feet to about the height of the elbow when the hand is placed on the floor, the bridge position reduces vertebral compression and isolates the shoulder joint which it’s intended to be stretching in the first place. Stretch mission accomplished and back concerns averted just by being smarter and understanding the body and the sport. The tradition stops with Gymfinity.

I was so please to talk with my friend Doug Davis the CEO of Tumbl-Trak about this very topic and he practically embraced me in agreeing. He told me how his back issues have developed from years ago and he was out “preaching the word” about bridges and how to do them correctly to many young coaches around the country. I’ve known Doug since I was 12 and it felt good to be recognized for having the right ideas even in the face of conventionality.

Here’s the vent part. I see these print ads in every children’s/parent’s magazine for this local franchise gym for kids and they show a child doing a bridge. Not only a silly skill but he’s doing it on his tippy toes and with flexed arms because he has no apparent flexibility. I can practically hear his spine shout in pain because I was that kid. Now I grant the premise that the average “Joe Public” types see a bridge and think gymnastics right away. Unfortunately it’s probably because they associate doing bridges in P.E. when they were young and it calls to mind the gymnastics unit where they had to perform them. So I understand the ad is associating gymnastics with children and then back to this franchise, but unfortunately these little boutique gym franchises are so out of the loop that they don’t even see how inappropriate they are.

The problem with all franchises is that they are impersonal. They have canned lesson plans that come from a corporate office and the lessons don’t adapt to the children to which they’re implemented. They also often hire inexperienced people who’s only knowledge of the sport is what the canned plan tells them, or they were once gymnasts and due to an unfortunate lack of knowledge they fall back on doing what has always been done. Sad. Completely unqualified and doing more harm than good, but cheap unqualified labor means more profit.

Am I over-stating? Maybe. And maybe you think I’m over the line but I post in this blog week after week about the benefits of gymnastics and how it is so good for children and when someone comes along doing it wrong (and glorifying their inability in print) I just get worked up.

For Pete’s sake, when you are looking for an activity for your children please consider the qualifications of the program, not the person who owns it or runs it (though those should be impeccable credentials too), but the program itself. Does it claim to have no responsibility because it’s activities are  just for fun, or does it at least qualify itself by staying on top of the industry standards? Choose wisely, your child’s health is at risk.

I apologize for the gratuitous ad that may appear in posts now. I have no control over them being placed or in product selection. 

History Tuesday: vaulting

Now this is an event I could sink my teeth into. In fact, I did. When I was a vaulter we had the old vaulting horse and for one vault my hands slipped and I hit my face on the horse. It loosened a couple of teeth but I did conquer the vault on the next try.  This event goes way back and I mean way back. Alexander the Great and his Macedonians are said to have practiced mounting and dismounting on a wooden horse. In the fourth century Vegetius describes Roman soldiers practicing on a wooden horse in his “Overview of the Roman Army”. But before then ancient Greeks vaulted over ponies as a show of speed and agility. There was no spring board.

In the early 19^th century, when Jahn, regarded as the father of gymnastics, was alive, there were different kinds of horses on his training

note the tail side

ranch, called the Hasenheide in Berlin: One was very realistic, it even had a head and tail. One was tailless but with an ascending end called the head. This one actually developed into the Olympic event of Pommel Horse; while the one with the tail was the predecessor of the vaulting horse. And actually for many years one horse was used for both events. When they were done with Pommels, they unscrewed them and covered the holes so fingers wouldn’t get stuck when vaulting.

Early vaults were more flanking style, like the body passing over without a flip. These evolved into flipping vaults when handsprings became the skill of choice for advanced gymnasts.

In the early 80’s the injury trend in gymnastics vaulting was too high and a replacement for the horse was on the drawing table but existed only as a discussion for many years. Men vaulted on the horse the long way and the narrow body was difficult for the wider shoulders of a man. Often arms were bent and form compromised to accommodate. For women the narrow horse was vaulted over sideways. Again the small target was difficult for a gymnast to hit at a full run and it was often missed or slip off of and made for some scary moments in the sport. In 1991 Trent Dimas the American who went on the win High Bar Gold was seriously injured while vaulting and what once was just a discussion became a call to action.

In 2001 FIG (Federation of International Gymnastics) retired the old horse to pasture and replaced it with the new Vault table. The apparatus

Wider and longer, more forgiving and no tooth marks, a great design

is much safer, but as always with these improvements comes an open door to higher risk skills. Watch this vault by Nelli Kim. She was the first woman to compete a Tsukahara (roundoff back flip from the table without touching feet obviously) and the first woman to do a double back flip on floor. Here she throws the Tsukahara with a full twist. AWESOME for 1976.

Gymnastics Makes Smarter Kids

Today we are pretty comfortable knowing that a child’s success is based off of good health and education. That seems like something we could all agree on, right? Right. Yet we see disturbing trends in child obesity still on the up-swing. This is particularly disturbing because obesity and lethargy go hand in hand and as research has shown, physical activity and academic achievement also go hand in hand but are opposite of the first pair. So how do we change the trend to curve downward instead of its current climbing trend?

I have been reading a lot about brain function lately and I have found that neuroscience has some interesting points that indicate “how we actually learn” and how we can stop the trend mentioned above. This down-sloping trend has children spending, on average, about 5 hours a day of screen time; that is computer screen, hand held screen, TV screen etc. This is a problem because being sedentary leads to lethargy. Lethargy leads to increasingly being more sedentary and merrily we go along. Parents too are spending many hours in front of a screen but the developing brain of a child and the brain of an adult have different effects from the same input. When a baby is born it has 100 billion neurons, or brain cells, and it begins laying connections or circuits to other cells by being exposed to stimuli. This is basically how we learn, grownups too. But since the baby’s brain is so “un-connected” it needs those stimuli even more. Between the ages of 3 and 10 a child’s brain is twice as active as an adult’s because it is establishing trillions of new connections and neural pathways. In fact it’s building so many new connections that it actually begins pruning unused connections to reestablish more pathways. Amazing!

What exactly does that have to do with exercise? Well most of the connections being created are enhanced by movement and interactive sensory input. Without that coordination of input, movement and senses, the brain has a more difficult time laying those connections and there is a direct impact on how well we learn. Scientists have documented through research the coordinating relationship between learning, reading, math, language and logic and physical movement and skill acquisition. Learning new physical skills incorporate muscle movement and that type of learning overlaps and enhances the other learning that people need namely reading, math, language and logic. Gymnastics is the learning of new skills as the athlete develops into a gymnast. A somersault on the floor develops into a handspring, develops into a front flip, develops into a twisting front flip etc. New pathways are created with every new layer of skill acquisition. This is markedly different than a sport like baseball, for example, where the basic skills are refined as the athlete progresses but no new skills are learned; throwing catching, swinging and running are the same skills for a 5 year old in T ball as they are for an MLB player albeit at a different level of performance. SO again, gymnastics is the top of the list for helping children develop their brains.

The latest studies in education are showing that the single greatest predictor for success in reading and math from kindergarten through 4^th grade was actually hand-eye coordination and motor skills. I personally feel that gymnastics is the highest form of physical skill development and more studies have shown neural networks, i.e. the flow of information in the brain, of children in preschool gymnastics is much higher than children who are not exposed to such activity.

“Neurologists are finding evidence that the cerebellum, which coordinates the physical movement, also coordinates the movement of thought” says John Ratey in his book The User’s Guide to the Brain. Learning in essence then, is not just in our heads, but in our bodies. If we are to learn and reach or surpass our potential we must exercise both. Sadly as our schools have financial restraints put on their operations, we are seeing student access to physical activity reduced. Our nightmare of not only being the biggest, fattest, blobs on Earth will be enhanced with other adjectives like slowest, dumbest or most unsuccessful. This is an embarrassing place to be. The rest of the world is catching up with America in the footrace of ingenuity and what’s worse, we are finding ways to slow our pace.